


The Last Dance

by Anjali_Organna



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Character Death, F/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1440712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anjali_Organna/pseuds/Anjali_Organna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On an otherwise unremarkable fall day in October, as the weather begins to turn, Peggy Carter dies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Lex. I'm sorry. I just needed to get this out of my system, I guess.

On an otherwise unremarkable fall day in October, as the weather begins to turn, Peggy Carter dies.

It is seven months after SHIELD falls, and Steve is with her. Later, he'll count his blessings, knowing just how easily he could have missed being there--some delay, a call from anyone--and this moment, this precious hour, would have been lost to him like so many others.

This time, he doesn't bring his laptop, the files and folders that have taken up so much of their summer. They’ve been going back through old records, trying to untangle the mess that Hydra left, root out the rotten threads from the fragile good. For Peggy, it’s a matter of honor; after all, she helped found SHIELD. Her picture was on the wall. For Steve, it’s a chance to learn her history, trace the path her life took after he disappeared. He resolutely tries not to imagine himself there with her, with their old friends, and fails miserably.

However, she's been increasingly tired this last week, and Steve thinks that perhaps they'll just sit and talk, share a cup of tea. Her face brightens when he enters, but Steve has spent the last half year memorizing her, and he notices the thread of exhaustion that weighs her down. His hands, smoothing back her hair, are correspondingly gentle.

He sits on the chair next to her bed, her two hands clasped in his large one, and talks about his latest attempt at cooking (dismal), the ongoing modifications he's made to his bike (beating off Tony’s suggestions), the movie he saw the other weekend (the pop culture references are becoming marginally more comprehensible). To anyone else, the conversation might seem mundane, especially given everything else that's going on in their world; but Steve and Peggy never got a chance to talk about mundane things, before. He recognizes these opportunities for the gifts that they are.

She talks about her grandkids, her great-nieces and nephews and he listens patiently. She doesn’t mention Sharon by name and he doesn’t ask--while Steve knows that Sharon was following orders, he still can’t yet find it in himself to forgive her. She is another link to Peggy, she _knew_ of their history, yet she said nothing to him for two years, and Steve is tired of time being wasted. (He has buried deep within him the spark of attraction he’d felt towards Sharon, before he knew the truth; this is not something he is prepared to deal with right now.)

Back in the room, Peggy tires. Her voice falters; she coughs. Steve holds his breath, bracing for her mind to go, but she stays with him. She smiles at him and holds out one thin arm, and his heart clutches.

“Come here, my dear,” she says, and he sits carefully on the bed, gently maneuvering his shoulder behind her head. “That’s better,” she sighs, relaxing into him. “My captain.”

They sit together in companionably silence. Outside her window, the weakening fall sun slants across the grass; Steve sees a flock of geese soar by, winging their way south. Peggy says, “I’m so happy, Steve.”

He looks down at her. Her cheek is pressed against his chest and her face is content. He squeezes her, so softly. “Good,” he says. “I’m glad.”

“Will you stay here?” she asks. “Until I fall asleep?”

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” Steve says and she nods.

Steve and Peggy remain like that, chests rising and falling in tandem, and it could have been any year, any decade, just a man holding the woman he loves while she sleeps. And then, after a long time, after no time at all, only Steve’s chest rises and falls, and it is so quiet.


End file.
